Fridgid Tutor
by juggernaut715
Summary: Endymion Malfoy, brother to Draco, is a squib. At the end of his rope, Lucius goes out on a limb to acquire the aid of a magical tutor who happens to be named Gray Fullbuster. Well, it was either learn magic, or die. It's still up in the air which of the two will happen. Send me OCs to put in these regions, muggle or wizard; USA, China, and Australia. And India.
1. Chapter 1

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry; the main place kids in England went to be taught magic. That said, it was not the only way to learn magic. There were all sorts of magical tutors available for those who weren't cut out for school life, and one of them was a man named Gray Fullbuster. No one ever commented on the odd name, or the man's odd habit of stripping down for no reason at all, for he was a renown teacher of wandless magic, and happened to be good friends with Albus Dumbledore.

He was not easy to get in touch with, however. If one found him, they would find him in a bar nursing a drink, muttering things about fairies and tails and a collection of names; Natsu, Lucy, Erza. At these times any requests for tutoring were ignored, and as soon as he'd left the bar he'd be impossible to find. So, it was just by luck he happened to be in the bank the moment Harry Potter went to retrieve his school money and an object with Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry gazed up at the man whose face he did not recognize already present in the cart. There was this chill floating off of the stranger that made Harry rub his arms in discomfort.

"Hello." He said, shifting nervously. The man's eyes had bags under them; it looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and there was a lingering smell of alcohol that never seemed to fade. The man's gaze shifted from Harry up to Hagrid, at whom he gave the slightest of nods, and turned back to Harry.

"Greetings." With that, the goblin pulled the lever, and the cart was barreling down the tunnels under Gringotts. In the moments where Harry managed to open his eyes to check if they weren't about to crash he could see the man removing various garments of his clothing; his tie, his suit jacket, his belt, all of them tossed behind them to fall forever in the bottomless chasms they careened over. With a screeching of metal on metal, they halted, and the man gave Hagrid one more nod, stepping off of the cart with the goblin, tapping his foot impatiently as the goblin opened the door. The vault opened and revealed a whole lot of nothing.

Harry couldn't see it from where he stood next to Hagrid in the cart, but the man went to the left inside his vault, palming a secret brick on the wall, revealing another vault within the vault no one could see from outside. He went in, stuffed a bunch of galleons into his bottomless pockets, and exited. The proceeding visitation to Harry's and the Hogwarts' vault went by smoothly, the man only standing in the cart calmly as both made their stop. He'd removed his dress shirt, now, revealing a white under shirt. On the man's exposed forearms Harry could see numerous scars, some of which looked suspiciously patterned, as though they were…self-inflicted. He did not ask if they were; only a truly rude person would.

When they reached the upper levels once more, the man had realized the removal of his clothing and pulled another set out of his back pocket, putting on another shirt and belt and tie and jacket. As he looped the tie in a full Windsor, Hagrid spoke.

"Doing alrigh' there, Fullbuster?" Their eyes met, Gray's eyes widening only slightly at being spoken to. He sighed, tugging on the tie and completing its tying.

"I'm just peachy." Clearly, he was not. As he stepped away from them he paused, looking back, but instead of looking at Hagrid he focused on Harry. "Tell…tell Dumbledore to give me a ring sometime soon-er, an owl, if he'd prefer." He waved a hand, walking away. "I forget myself; Dumbledore's above using muggle tools."

As Harry followed Hagrid out of Gringotts he asked the question that had been on the tip of his tongue the entire time.

"Who was that?" Hagrid spun around and bent at the waist, giving Harry his best stern expression.

"_That,_ Harry, was Gray Fullbuster. You see him again you stay away. He's dangerous when he's unhappy, and he's usually just so." He leaned back up to full height, scratching his beard. "He's a Magical Tutor. Teaches kids who can't get into Hogwarts, or disabled children, or ones who don't have the money. I heard the magic he teaches is…_different._" HE shrugged, turning away. "Jus' forget about him. Better if you never see him again."

(^-^)

Never in his life had Lucius Malfoy been so ashamed at the birth of his second child, Endymion. At birth it was already apparent the child had no capability for magic. IT was utter humiliation. Twice, just twice, Lucius had considered killing his own son, get rid of the blemish of his perfect life. The elder, Draco, would be attending school very soon and would no doubt be another Slytherin. But Endymion would not. He would be at home, ten years old, his only non-humiliating feature the good looks he would be sure to have in his later years. White hair, the same as the rest of the males in the family, and already gaining the good old pure-blooded snobbery that was a requirement as part of the family. Yet, he was a squib.

It was only by chance Lucius heard of this 'Gray Fullbuster.' Rumored to teach magic to those who could not attend school for whatever reason, and also teach them a different style of magic; _wandless_ magic no less. A chance, perhaps. Perhaps this different magic would be viable for Endymion. If his son was to be a failure, there would be no harm in trying outlandish methods that could have only outlandish results.

_Crunch, crunch, crunch,_ the gravel went beneath Lucius' boots as he approached the bar where Gray Fullbuster was rumored to frequent on his moody nights. His cane was held in a white knuckled grip, not that anyone could see it through his gloves, as he pushed the door open. Like any other bar, the conversations quieted for a moment for everyone to give him a cursory glance, and then continued like he wasn't even there. His own eyes searched for less than a second before finding a gentleman at the bar with articles of clothing dropped haphazardly around him. Totally naked from the waist up wearing only one shoe, black hair and muttering words in a foreign language under his breath; Gray Fullbuster. The creak of wood sounded like an avalanche as the man of the Malfoy House moved towards the bar, setting his cane to the side with a gentle _tap_ and taking a seat next to Gray. There was a chill in the bar, so Malfoy didn't bother to remove any articles of clothing, including his gloves and coat.

"Gray Fullbuster, I presume?" No response whatsoever; totally ignored. Lucius tried again, but the man only shifted slightly to rest his chin on the bar, continuing to mumble. The bleached blonde almost called it a waste of time and walked away, but paused when he heard a few coherent words mixed in.

"Natsu…motion sickness…" Gray snorted, leaning back and slapping his thigh. "He used to…" He burped. "Lay down here, cause it got rid of the-_hic_-symptoms." The words were all slurred together, but Lucius ascertained a basic understanding of what Gray was talking about; someone he used to know had motion sickness, and used his lap as a pillow to calm himself. It was weird, it didn't really make any sense, but it was all Lucius had to work with at the moment.

"Yeah." He said, leaning towards Gray. His next words were a leap of faith he hoped would work; he'd heard the word 'train' several times before this sentence. "He was always the worst on trains, wasn't he."

A barking laugh bounced off the walls as Gray tossed his head back and slapped the bar with an open palm.

"No-no, he was worst when-_hic-_when he got on a _boat."_ He continued laughing and laughing, until it died down and he rested his chin on the bar one more, his fifth bottle of firewhisky an inch from his nose. When he spoke again, it was disturbingly clear and concise, as though he wasn't intoxicated in the slightest.

"You never met Natsu, though. He was a flame-brain, a fire-spitter, a dimwitted numb skull with shifty eyes and pink hair." Lucius blinked, unsure of whether he should respond, but the man continued speaking, picking up the bottle of firewhisky and swirling it around. "Then there was Lucy. She was just a blonde bimbo, through and through, up until the moment when it counted. Strongest Celestial Mage in all Fiore, that's who she was. Tits were nice too. And Erza-heh, the _Queen._" He paused. "My…queen." He took a swig and smacked his lips. "Always in a suit of armor, even when she was naked. Red hair like blood, how she got her last name, Scarlet." Another sigh escaped his lips, and his bleary eyes turned to Lucius. It seemed every sigh lowered the temperature a degree. "Lucius Malfoy, head of the Malfoy Manor, nobleman and governor. Your son's a squib. You want me to teach him." He paused.

"Will you?" Lucius asked, filling the silence. He tried not to be unnerved at how this stranger knew exactly why he'd come. Gray leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. This motion revealed the scars that riddled his torso and arms, and indeed, there were a few that looked like they might have been-

"For a nobleman such as yourself, sure. I am in need of lodgings at the moment; my landlord decided he didn't want me stumbling back up the stairs every night, waking up everyone else in the building. Give me a residence in your house while I teach your son, a small fee per every lesson, and I will make him a Wizard." He held out his hand and Lucius shook it, thinking only of how large the 'small fee' would be. Lucius was too deep in thought to notice the thin layer of frost covering his palm.

(^-^)

At the top of a hill with dark clouds above it sat Malfoy Manor. It was, in a word, huge. Massive gothic arches and gargoyles furnished the outside and roof, and the ceiling in the foyer was a good thirty feet high. Gray tugged on his cufflinks as he entered, only a pace and a half behind his newest employer. He'd sobered up, forced himself to, and was currently dealing with a wicked hangover; his mood, usually irritable at its best, was downright seething.

The foyer was like a church hall, but without the blessings of a priest. Green flames loomed in chandeliers above, and a woman with gray, white, and black hair entered in from what looked to be the living room to greet them.

"Lucius." She intoned, stepping towards him and holding out her hand, which was promptly pecked and given a gentle squeeze as the married couple gave each other a fleeting smile. She turned to face Gray, eyes scanning up and down his figure for a moment before stepping towards him and giving a gentle nod. "Narcissa Malfoy, Lady of the House."

Each word was grating on Gray's ears, but he bore with it, for the sake of shelter and monetary compensation.

"Gray Fullbuster. I'll be tutoring your son."

"Draco?" Narcissa asked, blinking, glancing back at Lucius, who shook his head.

"He's here for Endymion. Mr. Fullbuster teaches a…different magic." Narcissa gave them both a peculiar look before striding past Lucius back into the living room.

"Endymion." Gray heard from where he was still in the foyer, watching Lucius remove his gloves and overcoat, not bothering to do the same. A childish voice answered his mother's, for a few moments a conversation, and then Narcissa came back into the foyer, toting a child with one of her hands wrapped around his. "Endymion, this is Mr. Fullbuster. He's going to be teaching you magic."

For a ten year old, Endymion was skinny. He wore a custom fit children's suit, all of it pitch black, in utter contrast to his pale skin and bleach blonde hair. He stared up at Gray with green-blue eyes, frowning all the while. It was already clear that, though to a lesser extent because he was a squib, his parents had still drilled a maturity and sense of clout into him only a pureblooded family would deem fit for a child of ten years old to maintain.

"Hello." He said, with no cheeriness present in the voice. Gray, for his part, gave little Endymion a stare for a moment before turning and walking over to the coat rack where Lucius had put his own coat.

"I am not a patient man." He said as he shook off the jacket. "I will be teaching you magic, among other things." He put the coat on the rack, his hands then moving to unlace his tie. "You will not question my methods, you will listen to _every_ word I say, and you will do your best in everything I tell you to do." The tie was slung over the coat rack, and Gray removed his cuff links next, turning slightly to give Endymion the first of many cold-hearted glares. "Your parents pay me to train you, not to coddle you. Do not make them, or myself, waste our time or money." The dress shirt Gray wore was dropped to the floor, and he turned away from the coat rack, walking back towards them. His gaze did not focus on Endymion; instead it was focused on Lucius.

"I am in dire need of rest to rid me of my hangover. I will commence teaching your son tomorrow morning, at sunrise, though I will be up before then." He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "Where is my room?"

"Upstairs, three rooms to the left. Directly across from Endymion's." Lucius answered, pointing to the staircase. In less than five seconds the man was gone, leaving a shell-shocked Narcissa and Endymion to stare at the place he'd previously stood.

"_That_ man is going to teach my son-_our_ son-"

"He's renown as the finest-"

"Finest what? Child abuser?" Their argument escalated as Endymion left the room, following the man's footsteps up the stairs, going to left, arriving at his own room, and entering. He felt tired just hearing that man speak. IT was like ice being scraped with every word the man spoke.

The child's room had a large four post bed, large windows on the far wall to provide light during the daytime. There was a closet filled with clothes only the richest of the rich could afford, along with numerous toys and what-nots his mother insisted upon. Endymion sighed. He wasn't stupid. HE knew he was a squib, a magically inept wizard, so how was he supposed to be taught _magic_ if he couldn't even _use _it?

(^-^)

Endymion was shook awake. Bleary eyes opened to find his mother trying to wake him, looking as ragged as she had ever been; it was clear she didn't enjoy getting up this early.

"I'll have Mr. Fullbuster wake you up next time, he can wake you for his own damn lessons…" Never, ever, had Endymion heard his mother curse. In his shock, he barely registered what had happened between waking from sleep and ending up on the porch of the manor, fully dressed and feeling chilly anyways. His mother stood next to him in her nightgown with a thick fur robe thrown over it, nonetheless rubbing her arms with the frigid air. It was England, after all; the mornings were always frightfully cold.

But it was a bit colder today, for some reason.

"Mr. Fullbuster said not to give you breakfast today, said it wouldn't stay down for very long and there wouldn't be any point." Endymion wanted to speak out, say how ridiculous this entire thing was, but a blast of cold wind prevented him from doing so, and Gray loomed before them not a moment later.

He was totally naked except for the boxers covering his privates.

"Narcissa, it's cold out. Head back inside and get yourself a cup of tea." That was all she needed to leave Endymion alone in the hands of a man she met yesterday. For a few moments, there was silence. Gray just skimming over Endymion with his eyes, Endymion doing the same and tracing the patterns of scars that riddled Gray's torso and legs and arms. There was a curious blue tattoo on Gray's chest, and a massive cross shaped scar on his lower abdomen. Finally, someone spoke.

"Are you really going to teach me magic? I'm a squib; I can't _do_ magic." At this, Gray frowned further than he already was, and reached out towards Endymion with one muscled arm. A heavy hand rested on the mop of blonde hair on top of his head, and Gray lowered himself to bring his eyes level with the boy's.

"I will teach you a magic few can survive using, much less learning." A finger poked Endymion in the chest. "Your magical core is faulty, but it's there. It just needs a jolt to get it started." The finger on Endymion's chest became an open palm, and he was suddenly thrown to the floor of the porch on his back, pinned with Gray's full weight against his chest. Pain rippled through his body as something _cracked_ inside him. A billowing gale of wind and raw energy spasmed out of him, focusing on where Gray's hand pressed against his chest, and then just as soon as it had came, it was gone.

"There is a common misconception among the study of squibs." Gray said, standing back up and letting Endymion struggle to rise on his own, talking as though he hadn't just shoved a ten year old to the ground. "Squibs still have magic, but it's not malleable. Their Origin is unfixed; they can't use it the same way you modern wizards do with your fancy wands. They're like…_me._" Endymion managed to open an eye, finding Gray with his hands on his hips, in full lecture mode. "I've fixed your magical core, but you still can't use a wand, nor any of this other fancy magic you English Wizards can do; it's not in your blood. Instead, you'll be using what I teach you. Get up. You're wasting my time."

Endymion managed to get up onto shaky feet. He felt like crawling back into bed and falling asleep for a few days; never had he felt such a terrible pain. But it was gone, and he knew the man in front of him wouldn't let him go back to bed. Gray didn't spare him a second glance, turning and walking down the stairs off the porch.

"Come on, deadlast; we're just getting started." The boy followed till they were a good hundred feet from the house. It was cold enough that Endymion's teeth were chattering, but Gray looked to be totally fine. The man spun suddenly, and the boy almost ran into his legs, stopping and looking up at Gray with uncertainty.

"Right. I think this is good enough. Strip."

"W-What?" An iron fist imbedded itself in Endymion's stomach, sending him back a few yards in a sprawling heap on the ground. He struggled to get back the wind that'd been knocked out of him when his collar was tugged and he was hoisted off the ground.

"I said, _strip._ Don't question my methods. You're either taking off your clothes on your own, or I'm doing it for you." With a _thump_ he dropped Endymion to the ground, and the boy hesitantly untied the tie around his neck, glancing up at Gray with an overbearing question or three in mind. But the man had already walked away, looking off into the distance for something Endymion couldn't see. It wasn't long before Endymion had folded his clothes in a neat pile on the ground and was wearing only boxers, the same as the man before him. His entire body had goose bumps from the cold, and he was fervently rubbing his arms to try and heat them up.

Gray spun on him, suddenly.

"_RUN!" _He shouted, charging towards Endymion with a look in his eyes that left no question in the boy's mind; this man was clearly insane, and his father was a fool for hiring him. Having no choice in the matter, the boy moved with great haste, trying to ignore the biting cold as he padded barefoot on the grass as fast as he could. Ten minutes of this chase passed, and it was quite clear that the man was not intending to actually catch him, but to keep him running. That was not as heartening as it seemed; he didn't know what Mr. Fullbuster would do if he actually caught up at the lackadaisical pace he was going right now.

An hour passed, and Endymion could not keep moving anymore. His legs were jelly, he felt numb all over, and he was shivering on the ground, face down.

"Done already?" Gray mused, sitting down next to him. It was utterly disturbing how unfazed he was when it came to the biting cold that surrounded them. "When I was your age-"He cut himself off, looking away. Endymion managed to quirk an eyebrow at this; his tutor had a history he wanted to keep secret, or at least try to. The boy yelped when he was yanked up from the ground. "Move. You'll keep warm if you move." His arm was pulled over Gray's hip so he was upright but the man did not carry him, forcing him to walk alongside him back to the house. The man's skin was just as cold, if not colder, than the temperature of the air around them.

"E-Endymion?" Narcissa squeaked out at the sight of her son's pallid and mostly revealed features. She spun on Gray, who was still holding the boy up. "What have you-what did you do to him, you-"

"I have begun to teach your son the strongest Ice magic the world has ever seen." Gray let go of Endymion, unceremoniously dropping him to the floor on his rump, then turned to loom over him. "From now on you will wear nothing more than the bare minimum of clothing. If you heat up all of what we did this morning will be for nothing." He turned and walked towards the stairs, pausing just as his first foot touched the first stair. He didn't look back, but spoke.

"I expected you to drop after the first five minutes. Keep it up, and you might actually become a wizard."

Narcissa either did not hear the words coming out of the tutor's mouth or blatantly ignored him; within ten seconds Endymion had a blanket wrapped around him and was being ushered into the living room, where the fire place would warm his frigid bones. But the sparse praise the boy had received was more hope than he had all of his life; 'you might actually become a wizard.'

Halfway to the door he tugged himself out of his mother's grasp and shrugged the blanket off of himself. She gave him a scandalized look when he slapped away the hand trying to throw the blanket back on him.

"M-M-M-Mr. F-Fullbusssster s-said-"

"I don't care _what_ that man said. You are warming up-I'm not going to have you catch a cold, much less freeze to death, just because of some deranged teaching scam."

"I made sure the temperature outside was safe." Speak of the devil; Gray was walking past them into the living room towards the kitchen, now wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt with a odd golden symbol on it. _The same symbol on his chest,_ Endymion realized, rubbing his arms for warmth. "I made towers of ice on the property before dawn, regulating the temperature. The entire time we were outside it was exactly 41 degrees Fahrenheit. I wasn't going to start training below freezing; that'll come later." He disappeared out of sight into the kitchen, and the faint chill that had come with his passing disappeared as well. Narcissa let out a quiet snarl and went to screech at her husband, wherever he was, leaving Endymion alone in the foyer with nothing on him but his undershorts.

"This is too weird." He said.

(^_^)

The shaking had stopped, and Endymion wasn't sure whether that was a bad thing or not. He'd ask Mr. Fullbuster if he should be worried, but every time he tried to summon the courage to go downstairs and enter the kitchen (Gray was currently cooking lunch for himself) he found himself pushed away by an invisible voice named 'common sense.' His father had heard quite the lecture from his wife on 'child safety' and how 'that man will be the death of our son,' but the elder Malfoy shrugged it all off.

"The solution is right in front of us." He said, jerking a thumb towards the kitchen where Gray was while he and Narcissa sat in the living room. "He'll teach him magic, and if he fails the boy won't be a problem anymore." This earned him further scolding, but they had both resigned to fuming in opposite corners of the manor. Currently, Endymion sat in his room, which had every blanket and pillow and spare clothing and anything that could keep him warm taken away.

"Unnecessary." Gray had said.

Clad only in a pair of shorts (not just his undershorts) and a thin t-shirt, he sat on the floor, staring at the wall, feeling particularly bored. His tutor had pushed him, this morning. Every muscle in his body ached. The clock on the wall said 11:00 in the morning; that meant he'd managed to sleep for almost five hours after the training had finished. But no matter how much he wanted he couldn't sleep any longer; he was too tired to do so. He had nothing to do except play with his toys but his mind kept floating back to the deranged face of the man chasing him up and down the property earlier. There was a voice inside his head saying, _screaming_ for more training, to become stronger.

The wall was blank and gray, and very gloomy. With a sigh he stood up and trudged out of his room into the hallway, where the temperature had been lowered a few degrees by the resident Iceman to further attune him to the cold. His room was only three degrees warmer; 47 degrees. Here, it was 44, just three degrees above the biting temperature outside. Briefly, he wondered how his parents were staying warm. There was a scent drifting up towards him from downstairs, one of foreign food and deliciousness. It called, and he answered, hopping down the steps with as much speed as his body could muster. Whatever voice that had ushered him away before had been deleted at the prospect of food, and he was in the doorway before he knew what he was doing.

Gray stood by the stove, spatula in one hand and other on the handle of a cast iron pan. The tantalizing smells were coming from whatever he was looking down at. His eyes shifted over towards Endymion and the boy wondered whether he'd be kicked out of his own kitchen just for meeting that cold stare.

"Hungry, huh?" The man shook the pan, causing whatever inside to sizzle loudly. He jerked the spatula towards the table, dripping whatever oil he was using to cook on the floor. "Take a seat." Endymion did as he was told, though he didn't quite understand these proceedings. Wasn't Mr. Fullbuster his tutor? Why was he cooking when they had house elves to do that for them-much less offering his own food to his student? Endymion stared at his back as he cooked, shifting in his chair every few seconds, discontented.

"You're burning a hole between my shoulder blades." Gray intoned, glowering over his shoulder.

_Is he psychic?_

"Being silent is for the weak, so speak, lest you die in less than a week~." He said in a singsong voice, almost mockingly. He continued staring back at Endymion even as he shifted the pan in his hand, so Endymion blurted out the first thing on his mind.

"What are you cooking?"

"Hmm?" The question was unexpected, and Gray turned and looked down at the pan before answering. "Old…old family recipe." He turned the stove off and walked over to the cabinets, pulling out two plates and then dishing whatever he'd cooked onto them. Silently, he waved a hand over the plates and they were blasted with a freezing chill, making them low enough temperature that they wouldn't mess up Endymion's training. With a _rattle_ a plate covered in what looked like steak and eggs was dropped before the boy, and he frowned at it.

"It looks like steak and eggs." He said, simply. He looked around for a moment.

"What?" Though he didn't look it, Gray sounded irritated.

"What about eating utensils?"

"Get them yourself. There will not always be a midget-sized elf or a servant to spoon feed you." Gray already had a fork in hand and was chowing down on the grub. Blinking, Endymion got to his feet and walked over to the drawer where the silverware was, pulled out a fork knife and spoon and then sat back down. At the first bite he moaned like a woman in the midst of her orgasm. Gray only quirked an eyebrow. In half of a minute most of the food on the plate was gone, and Endymion was only trying to comprehend how what _looked_ like steak and eggs didn't _taste_ like steak and eggs; it tasted _better. _Though, the food itself was almost frigid in temperature. Perhaps it was affecting his taste buds?

"Everyone thinks its steak and eggs, but it's not." Gray muttered, almost in conversation with Endymion's thoughts.

_Did he just read my mind?_

"It's actually kangaroo. And there's a plethora of spices from all around the world in every bite. Plus, those eggs are actually jellyfish."

Endymion gagged, dry heaving off to the side. The man snorted and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. He'd already finished eating.

"Oi, brat. Pay attention to me; life lesson #1 from your tutor, Mr. Fullbuster." The boy froze mid heave and stared up at Gray with curious eyes. "If it looks good, eat it. If it tastes good, it eat it. If it smells good, eat it. If it doesn't look, taste, or smell good, eat it anyways. Food is survival; fine dining is luxury. This will be one of the _other_ things I teach you." Endymion blinked.

"What's that?"

"Cooking."

(^_^)

Narcissa had had enough of skulking around in the library. She'd scold her husband once more and get that ice cube of a man out of their home, away from her precious Endymion. She marched out of the library with intent to screech, only to have her banshee wail die in her throat upon entering the kitchen, where her husband sat at the table, drinking coffee.

At the counter of the kitchen was her son, Endymion, and the yeti, Gray. Both held knives in their hands, both wore aprons (Gray wore nothing _but_ the apron) and Gray was lecturing her son on how to dice onions.

"Vertical, keep it vertical." Gray demonstrated the motion slowly, and then Endymion repeated it, slower. "Don't cut into the root, just about three/quarters towards it."

"What is going on?" She managed, gathering everyone's attention. Lucius shot up from the table and was in front of her with a second cup of coffee in less than a moment, swirling her around to view the teacher and student better.

"This would be part of Mr. Fullbuster's other lessons, aside from magical studies." She looked from the knife her son held, to her son's face, to Gray, then to her husband, who was smirking slightly. With a sigh, she took a deep drink of coffee.

"He's tutoring our son to be an icy housemaid." She left the room, leaving everyone else to wonder whether she approved of the situation or not. The pair continued their work without a hitch, and Lucius returned to the kitchen table, paper in hand. It was only a few weeks until the school year started. Draco was currently visiting the fellow pure-blood family, the Greengrass. It was only protocol that he acquire a few peons before the school year began, and those of the Greengrass family were prime subjects; Daphne would make an excellent puppet for whatever schemes Draco wished to perform.

A thought occurred to Lucius, who immediately wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. He sent a fleeting glance towards Gray, who was still in the midst of working with his son, and coughed.

"I never had the chance to ask, Mr. Fullbuster…" He began, trying to appear nonchalant by examining an article about thestral breeding. "Are you a pure-blooded wizard?"

There was a silence in which Lucius wondered whether he needed to ask the question at all; this man had come into his home, sure, but he was paving new horizons for a squib of a son. But it was answered nonetheless.

"I don't know." Beat. "My parents died when I was young; I was subsequently raised by a wizard who found my half-dead carcass under what remained of my home. Why, does it matter?" He glared over his shoulder at Lucius, who practically froze at the frigid stare. The blonde found he could not hold eye contact, and looked away, feeling rather ashamed, even if the man before him was of undeterminable blood.

"I suppose not."

No response. Gray went back to working with Endymion, who had heard the entire thing and was wondering what would have happened if his parents were dead too. He'd been taught pureblood prejudice, sure, but he hadn't even thought to ask Gray whether he was pureblooded or not. His parents _had _taught him the prejudice, but not to the extent they had with his older brother. Truly, did it matter? The boy's gaze shifted from the onion he was working on to the man next to him.

Gray Fullbuster emanated the cold, fierce, frosty power of a blizzard. His eyes were sharper than icicles and his mannerisms cut into the people around him like blades of ice. No, it didn't matter if he was pure-blooded or not; he was Gray Fullbuster, and he was frigid. That was enough.

Hours passed and Endymion had a basic understanding of different kitchen skills.

"At dawn, we train in the cold. Then we cook. It's a skill you'll need when I step up the training." The sun had set, and it was around 8:30. "Now, I will impart the basics of meditation to you." They were sitting in the living room on the stone floor, crisscross-applesauce. Gray reached out and poked Endymion in the chest. The boy felt a tiny jolt of energy rattle his frame. "Your core is weak, but it isn't out of commission any longer. You have to strengthen it." Gray leaned back, revealing all of his totally naked glory, putting his hands on his knees. Endymion had been averting his eyes since the man had removed his apron, and had gotten used to looking anywhere but 'there.'

"Imagine yourself in the tundra. Icy wind billows against your back, your body slowly covering itself in ice. The sun is down, and there is darkness all around-except for you. You are the sole source of light, the one power present in the universe, and you are _cold."_

This speech developed slowly, like water cooling down to a freezing temperature. Endymion's breathing settled at an easy pace, and Gray's words were all he heard. At the sound of a _snap_ his eyes opened and he jerked back, surprised. Gray was in the process of getting to his feet.

"It's nine thirty. Sleep." He went upstairs, and Endymion followed behind. They separated at the junction in the hallway between their doors, and the boy found everything including his bed removed from his room. He didn't feel as dejected as he should, going from sleeping in a warm bed one day to settling on the stone floor the next.

He'd started to get used to the cold.

(^_^)

* * *

_I fixed the entire format thing. Yay. Enjoy your emphasis, and check out the next chapter. When I upload it. Which should be soon. _


	2. Chapter 2

_Fifteen days until the school year at Hogwarts begins,_ _the following morning…_

This time it was Gray who did the waking. Endymion was roused with a taste of dust and stone in his mouth, but had no time to voice any complaints. Up, up, up, he was pulled. Gray was wearing nothing but his undershorts again, and he instructed Endymion to take off everything but his as well.

In less than three minutes they were out in the cold once more.

"40 degrees Fahrenheit." Mr. Fullbuster said, drawing the attention of the drowsy ten year old. "A degree lower than yesterday." He spun on him. _"Move."_ The chase began again, this time Endymion found himself herded towards the nearby woods. He had no choice but to enter, with Gray on his heels. Immediately he slipped and fell on his ass.

"I've covered the ground of the forest in patches of ice. They won't affect the temperature, but they'll spice things up a bit." The man tapped his foot impatiently as Endymion eased himself off the ground. Not a moment later he was moving once again, with a bit of a limp but swiftly nonetheless. He hopped over most of the ice patches, but found himself thwacked in the face by icicles hanging from branches every time he did so. It took a while, but he eventually grasped that Mr. Fullbuster had actually designed it this way; he had two choices, either attempt to skid across the ice or get an icicle broken across his nose for trying to get out of it.

He fell on his rump numerous times, but the winter wonderland (not really, for it wasn't even close to the season of winter) did its job. Endymion managed to maintain his balance on a long patch of ice when Gray forced him to do so, and even though he crashed headfirst into a tree he'd stood up with a beaming smile on his face; as hard as it was, it beat sitting in his room playing with toys all day.

That was not to say it was fun, by any stretch. There was a numbing ache in every one of his joints and his muscles were twitching out of control in an attempt to heat themselves up. His teeth were chattering, and he was by no means comfortable when he clonked the back of his head on the ice for the umpteenth time. It would appear that as well as an Ice wizard Gray knew a bit in the way of healing, or at least pain nullification; a gust of icy wind would blast across the back of Endymion's head and he would continue unfazed, if a little wobbly.

He was honestly surprised when Mr. Fullbuster caught up to him. Honestly, he'd gotten used to the idea that Gray would chase him but thought the man was deliberately letting him out of his grasp; he was right, but he didn't expect Gray to shift that perception so suddenly.

"Can you feel the cold, brat?" He was pinned on an icy patch, cold digging into his back like an ice pick. Gray's hands were at his wrists, heavy knees holding his lower body in place, and the piercing black stare of Gray's eyes against his own, inches apart. The man's words shone through this discomfort, however, and Endymion squeaked a tiny 'yes.'

"Really?" A tiny nod. _"Which_ cold?" The grips on the boy's wrists tightened and he winced.

_Which cold?! What the bloody hell does he mean!? _Thoughts raced in Endymion's mind and his eyes darted around, searching for whatever other possible 'colds' existed. The grips on his wrists continued tightening, and he struggled against them, feeling a foreboding numbness creeping into them. It clicked.

"_Your_ c-cold." The grip was released, and Gray stood up. Endymion scuttled to his feet, trying to get off his back (he'd been lying against the ice for a while, and he wasn't quite prepared for that degree of cold yet).

"Right." Gray held out a hand and a tiny frost formed around it. "An Ice-Make Wizard is cold. Our body temperature is impossibly low, and technically we shouldn't be able to live." He clenched his fist. "I can manipulate my own internal temperature." His gaze met Endymion's. "Sometimes it falls below zero. But I usually keep it high enough I don't adversely affect those around me; a steady thirty three degrees, just above freezing."

A finger poked Endymion in the forehead.

"This is your future, if you train under me." There was a moment of silence in which Endymion pondered if this was when he said 'fuck that shit' or 'awesome.' It passed, and the chase began once more.

(^_^)

Draco wasn't sure whether he was in a particularly vivid dream or if there really were two nearly naked figures walking towards the door of the manor. He was just arriving and hadn't even reached the top of the driveway yet. He frowned when he recognized the smaller form.

His brother, the squib.

He always hated him for his weakness, but loved him for the fact they were brothers. Though, in Draco's mind, he wasn't sure love actually existed. It was an enigma to someone as pure as him, one who functioned on deceit and malice to live.

As he stepped out of the carriage these two figures had just entered the main doors, and he followed them swiftly, not bothering to call for a house elf to take his luggage upstairs. Upon entering he found his brother shivering in place, facing the man next to him, who was tall with dark, dark blue hair.

They were both, indeed, in nothing but their undershorts.

Silence was the most prominent characteristic of the room for a few moments, until the man spoke.

"I'll ice the pipes so you can take a cold shower and clean up." Endymion's body was covered in dirt and grass stains, and his shorts were soaked from repeated contact with the ice. If it weren't for his conditioning since the previous day or the magical core in his center allowing this transgression on natural law to occur, he would probably have frostbite if not hypothermia.

"R-R-Right." His brother stuttered out, obediently following the man like a puppy.

"Oi, hold on-Endy, who the bloody _hell_ is this?" The pair of near naked individuals turned back, his brother with a sort of excited expression and the man with…nothing.

"T-T-This is-s M-M-Mr. F-Fullbusster." The boy took a shivering breath and forced himself to regain a semblance of control over his vocal chords. "He-he's my tutor."

The explanation was inadequate, questions were burning holes in Draco's skull, but 'Mr. Fullbuster' was already moving up the stairs and Endymion was following. A half hour passed and Draco was sitting the kitchen, disgruntled. His mother was shopping in Diagon Alley according to a note she left, and he already knew his father was busy with the board of governors. _Pitter-patting_ of feet on stone denoted a small body moving towards his location, and his brother entered the kitchen soon enough, wearing clothes that Draco wouldn't have worn even on the warmest of days. Following him was the mysterious 'Mr. Fullbuster.'

He at least had the decency to put on some pants, but was still shirtless and dripping with water from his own shower. Dark blue bangs nearly covered his eyes, but even so their gazes met, and Draco shivered under the chilling glower that met his stare.

"Draco!" Endymion sang, hopping towards his brother before giving him a hug, not even waiting for him to get up from his chair. A brief genuine smile flashed on Draco's lips, but it withered quickly. His brother was…cold.

Not freezing, not chilly, not anything of the sort, but he was definitely not warm as all human bodies should be.

"Hey, Endy." He said, trying to ignore the realization. "Who's this guy again?" Endymion let go of his brother and took a step back, looking towards the man, who had approached the stove.

"He's my tutor, Mr. Fullbuster." A conspirators' grin sported itself. "He's teaching me _magic."_ Draco's eyes zoomed to Gray, who was going through the motions of cooking another seemingly normal but actually incredibly exotic dish. There were scars on the man's back, and Draco had already seen the massive cross shaped one on his lower abdomen. He'd also noticed the blue tattoo, but thought nothing of it; a tattoo was a tattoo, it wasn't like he had the Dark Mark or anything. It probably meant nothing.

Oh, yes, Draco knew his father was a Deatheater.

Endymion did too, to some extent, but hadn't been conditioned quite so far into that way of thinking yet; his mother preferred him to be the 'innocent' child, whilst still maintaining pureblood superiority.

"Your…tutor? For-for _magic?_" Endymion nodded enthusiastically, and Gray offered an explanation.

"Your brother is not a squib in all aspects of magic. In exchange for room and board and marginal fees I am teaching him Ice magic, among other things." Gray lit the stove and placed a pan over a burner, then turned to face Draco. "You have questions; ask them." Draco's nostrils flared. Who was this man, tutor or not, to come into his house wearing only pants and taking his little brother out on excursions wearing almost nothing?

"Why were you and my brother outside, wearing nothing but your undershorts?"

"Conditioning. He has to get used to the cold."

Endymion watched the nigh-interrogation take place with a perplexed feeling. His father had asked these same questions of Gray earlier but had only received a dismissing reply, along the lines of 'it's part of the process,' nothing more. For whatever reason, Gray seemed open to giving Draco, his brother, far more information than either of his parents received.

Something to do with the 'brother' aspect, perhaps.

"Are you really qualified for this?" His brother was asking, with arms crossed.

"I am old friends with the headmaster of the school you will be attending in just over two weeks. He himself has acknowledged my strength and my skill. Also, do you have any sensation in your feet?" This last remark clicked something in Draco's mind; he hadn't been able to feel his toes for the past few seconds. He looked down and screeched at the sight of an icy serpent curling around his feet, beady glowing red eyes glaring up at him.

"Ice-Make; Frost Serpent." Gray said, simply, and Draco's eyes followed the tail of the snake back to Gray's hand, where it'd come from, and then up at Gray's face believing he'd be smirking at his discomfort. But Gray wasn't looking at him. He was looking at Endymion, who stood next to him, eyes ablaze in wonder. "You won't be able to do something like this for a while, but you'll be manifesting within a week if you train hard enough." The younger boy nodded fervently while Draco fumed.

"Can you get rid of this damn icicle already?" The ice pulled back and disappeared into thin air. Gray turned to start cooking and Endymion was now totally focused on his tutor. Draco was starting to have a headache; this was too much information to take in at once, and the humiliation by this half naked unknown was pushing limits. He went up to his room and locked the door, trying to distract himself with a basic charms book. He was allowed to study magic in his own home, of course; they were the Malfoy's. Who would stop them?

(^_^)

"When did you start cooking?" The question caused Gray to pause his stirring of what looked like chicken and rice but probably wasn't.

"…a long time ago." He said, finally, continuing movement. "It became one of the many trades I was able to do. It also helped with magic."

"Really?" Endymion blurted out, unable to contain his curiosity. Inwardly he wondered how he'd gone from the sheltered, pureblooded boy of the high-class Malfoy house two days ago to this almost normal acting (if stripping down and getting chased in the cold for almost an hour every morning counted as normal) ten year old. To be honest, he couldn't care. At the moment he was pleased with his situation; he was learning magic, something he never thought possible. The walls of prejudice he'd been raised on were being torn down, bit by bit, through training and conversation.

"The articulate motions incurred in cooking help with meticulous manifestations. Practice makes perfect, and cooking is just more practice." The boy nodded, and a lesson concerning sautéed anaconda and bugs that _looked_ like rice began. Endymion wasn't sure if his stomach would be able to survive much more out of this world food.

Hours passed. They didn't just cook, instead sitting down in the living room and beginning meditation exercises early. While Endymion was lost in another world of inner exploration Gray had gone and gotten a cup of coffee, filled it with ice, and sat across from the boy while sipping it slowly. When he was finished he snapped his fingers and the boy came out of his trance, looking dazed. He set his coffee down and seized the boy's hands, pulling them to the space that lay between them.

"Imagine there's ice coming out of your hands." For a few moments there was silence, and Endymion spent most of it blankly staring at his hands. "You'll do this whenever you have a spare moment. Imagine yourself performing Ice magic, and it'll be easier." Gray looked behind Endymion at the grandfather clock and frowned. "There's both too much and too little time in the day. Oh well. Go upstairs and…do something. I've got to go take care of something." He stood up and left Endymion sitting there, dumbfounded. His teacher had just dropped a lesson, or at least it seemed so, for what-the boy didn't know.

When Gray returned it was nine o clock, and Endymion was fast asleep. Lucius greeted him at the door, asking him how things were progressing.

"Just fine."

"Great." Beat. "Where have you been? It's been-"

"7 hours since I left. I was visiting an old friend."

"Who?" Lucius wanted to bite his tongue when Gray glared at him; apparently he shouldn't have asked that question, but the look faded and Gray sighed.

"I had to have a talk with Dumbledore. If you'll excuse me, I have things to ponder and dreams to wonder. Good night, Lucius."

"G-Good night."

As the man ascended the stairs up to his room, Lucius did his own pondering. The man had not scheduled a meeting with Dumbledore, that much was certain. So, in theory, Gray Fullbuster was on unannounced visiting terms with the greatest wizard alive?

Ridiculous.

Yet, in his core, Lucius could not doubt Gray's words.

(^_^)

_Fourteen days before the beginning of the school year at Hogwarts, at the end of a particularly long morning training session that ended at ten o'clock in the morning. _

Gray never said anything about it, but his latest charge reminded him of his fellow disciple of Ur.

They both had almost white hair, even if Endymion's was more blonde than Lyon's silver.

In fact, Gray had made the mistake of calling him Lyon earlier. It was a slip-up he hoped would be ignored, but he felt memories crashing through his own mind, unrestrained.

"Come on." The yeti said, pushing his student towards the tree line. "You're going to rest for an hour, then we'll cook, then you'll meditate. Manifestation practice begins tomorrow, if you can manage it. Probably not." Gray closed his eyes, leaning back against the frozen wood of a large oak tree. "Go on ahead. I need to…to think." He was gone in less than a second, and Endymion was left alone to wander back to the house. Along the way he fell over a few times on patches of ice, but was otherwise unharmed.

It was disturbing how exponentially he was getting stronger, not only physically but mentally. Three days ago he never would have understood any of the things his tutor had told him, wouldn't be able to stand outside in 39 degree weather in nothing but his undershorts, to have the willpower to accomplish things like this. It was in his magical core; he wasn't a regular human or wizard, he was what Makarov Dreyar would call 'Fairy Tail material.'

If he was still around, he would have.

Endymion took a cold shower and waited in the living room for his tutor to come back, lying on the floor with his hands behind his head as a pillow. Strange, how he'd gotten used to hard stone as being comfortable so quickly.

It was twenty minutes before Gray returned, and he went upstairs to shower without a word. When he came down there was a desolate look in his eyes.

"Sit up. Meditation comes before cooking today."

"Who's Lyon?" A ten year old's curiosity knows no bounds, as does their inability to keep themselves from blurting out most likely rude questions. Endymion wasn't inattentive; he'd heard the slip-up.

It was like a storm was staring Endymion in the face, like a frosty typhoon had been unleashed right on top of him.

There was silence for about ten minutes. Endymion shifted nervously, unsure of whether his tutor had gone brain dead from the way he was staring blankly past the boy's left shoulder. Gray's expression hardened all of a sudden and he growled.

"You are not worthy of knowing, brat. Never speak that name again, or so help me I will turn you into an ice statue."

Just as the storm billowed through, it abated, and Gray sat up straight, patting his thighs.

"Close your eyes and imagine yourself covered in ice…"

_Oh, I can imagine it quite clearly now._ In Endymion's mind he could now only see Gray's hand held out towards him, multiple icy serpents curling around his ankles and freezing him from the feet up in a solid block of ice.

Never in his life did he feel as scared as he did when Gray Fullbuster threatened him.

Meanwhile, in Gray's mind, memories of Lyon's betrayal twenty years after the incident with Deliora rattled his heartstrings.

_Damn it, Lyon. How many centuries will you haunt my memories?_

(^_^)

_Ten days before the beginning of the Hogwarts school year, in Malfoy Manor, just after sunset…_

_A party is being held._

Endymion sits in the corner of the room all by himself. Earlier he'd been part of the guest-greeting contingent, but now he was outcaste. People were all around him but he was alone.

High society filled the ballroom; most people carried fine wine in their hands and a wand in the other, showing off both to anyone who would look. Plenty of governors were present, plenty of ministry officials, and numerous Deatheaters in disguise, too. The younger brother's eyes were trained on the older, who was conversing condescendingly with his two drones, Crabbe and Goyle, halfway across the ballroom.

The boy shook his head; he was getting distracted. With a shaky breath, he stared at his hand, flexing it, imagining ice taking shape there. He'd managed it already, earlier that day, but only after three hours of nonstop attempts.

A fucking _snowflake_ in the palm of his hand.

Yeah, well, better than nothing at all. Six days and a snowflake, not too shabby, even if it melted in less than a second because of his body heat. Mr. Fullbuster had told him it was unlikely he'd get it within a few days, but even with that snowflake he'd proved his teacher wrong. Yet, it was still a snowflake. Not enough.

The temperature in the house, until an hour the guests had arrived, was 48 degrees. Outside it was still lowering regularly, and everyone who entered the house spoke of how ridiculously chilly the weather was.

Thirty five degrees.

The suit the boy wore was lined with ice to keep him cool, and all of it was kept in small baggies to keep the clothes from getting soaked. It was arduous to put on, and would probably be a great relief to take off. They'd warmed up the house to accommodate guests, and Gray had quite the task ahead of him to cool it back down afterwards.

The rest of the Malfoy family had taken to wearing sweaters and toting blankets around with them wherever they went to deal with the conditions.

Endymion was jolted from his reverie when someone sat down next to him. Gray Fullbuster, usually sporting stubble and a coldhearted glare, was clean-shaven. He still had the glare, though. It was somewhat of a foreign sight to see him wearing so many clothes; he hadn't even taken off his suit jacket.

"I hate parties." He said, simply. His gaze drifted over everyone present, and he nodded for emphasis. "Hate 'em. Too many people." He looked over at Endymion, who was following wherever his gaze went. Their eyes met, and the boy looked away, sheepish. He snorted and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair until his hair almost completely covered his eyes.

This slight sanctuary was not to be upheld, unfortunately.

"Excuse me." A feminine voice intoned from far too close for comfort. Gray's eyelids peeled back to reveal a girl named Emily Harcourt. She was well known, but not for the right reasons, and was only present at the party because of her father's job as a governor.

She was half veela.

"Hmm?" Gray hummed, quirking an eyebrow at the girl's vibrant green dress.

"They're going to be dancing soon. I was wondering if you had a partner, or if you'd like to dance with…" A clichéd tilting of the head to the side. "Me?"

Gray looked her up and down for a moment before glancing over at Endymion, who was staring at the girl with something akin to worship in his eyes. Indeed, Gray would agree, she was quite beautiful, but she couldn't have been older than fifteen.

And he hadn't danced with anyone since….

He wanted to scowl but forced a smile.

"I believe it would be best you found someone more liken to your age, miss." A momentary scandalized expression floated on her features before she gently 'hnned' and walked away. Her scarlet hair bounced with every step, and Gray felt his innards twist with remembrance of a woman he called 'wife.' It was almost painful. He shut his eyes and tried to lock away the remorse, but found himself roused once more.

A man with long oily hair and a hooked nose glared down at him. He glared back.

"You would be Mr. Fullbusssster, the tutor of Malfoy's youngest." It was not a question, but Gray answered it anyways, standing up and rising to full height, a full three inches taller than the man before him.

"Indeed. And of course, your name is Severus Snape, Potionmaster of Hogwarts, Head of Slytherin house."

"Dumbledore mentioned you, a few days ago. Said you'd made your own…" His gaze tilted down to Endymion, and he practically whispered; "safety measures."

"I owed him a favor." Gray said.

"And yet in all my years of magical enterprising I have never heard of this mysterious wandering tutor, Gray Fullbuster, what an interesting name…"

"Perhaps." Sparks flew between their foreheads. "You ought to mind your own business, snake."

Severus only bared his teeth; his version of a smile.

The confrontation ended, and Endymion watched Severus Snape go. According to his father, every member of their family was Slytherin.

_That_ man was the Head of Slytherin house?

Endymion was, for the second time, glad he didn't have regular magic. That was _not _a man who's footsteps he wanted to follow in.

(^_^)

_The day after, at ten o'clock at night. Nine days before Hogwart's schooling begins for the year._

To wear a suit filled with icepacks was not something Endymion wanted to endure again. He'd been sweating the entire time during yesterday's party; his body wasn't properly adjusted to being cold _or_ hot, and he needed to be pushed hard in one direction to permanently sync to one or the other. He was glad when the party was over and was further gladdened when Gray said that 'push' would come very, very soon.

Earlier today he'd found that his body had increased in durability. IT was both a side effect from training and from his magical core strengthening. In the kitchen he'd accidently chopped down on his thumb with a butchers knife and it had only given him a scrape.

Speaking of the kitchen; one would think the flames used to cook would heat up the air and thus heat up Endymion. Gray insured they did not.

Currently, Endymion was wiping his nose as he followed Gray through the forest.

"Try to reach for the inner blizzard." Gray had said, and simply walked away, gesturing for Endymion to follow. They'd done a 'chase' earlier, but now Gray was leading him…where, exactly? The boy's eyes had adjusted to the darkness quite well, another side effect of his magical core's increasing power, but he still tripped plenty. He hadn't attained a perfect balance on ice yet, and there were plenty of roots sticking out this way and that to trip him up.

A beam of moonlight shone down on them when they entered a clearing. Gray waved a hand and the entire clearing became an ice rink.

"What degree are we at, brat?"

"Thirty four." Endymion replied, an internal thermometer spitting out the answer before he'd even thought of it.

"Thirty four." Gray repeated. "We'll be sleeping out here tonight; a test, if you will. Survive the jump in temperature from your bedroom (six degrees higher, at 40 degrees) to the outside and I'll teach you a trick. IF you don't survive, well…I'll be out of a job." Endymion gulped, watching as Gray slid across the ice, grabbed a tree at the edge of the clearing and ripped it out of the ground. In less than a moment it was sliced in half by a massive icy broadsword and dropped on the ice.

"Your bed, deadlast." Gray laid down on his own half-trunk like all was fine with the world. Endymion did the same, wondering if his unconscious body would last the night (a sleeping body is much more susceptible to the cold). As he continued shivering, as he had been since he'd entered the frosty forest, he stared up at the stars. So bright, so beautiful. His gaze drifted to the moon, which was a thin crescent, almost a New Moon.

At this moment he knew he wouldn't let himself die. All that he'd managed so far in a single week, all the strength he'd required, how low he'd made his body temperature go (currently his internal temp was a bit lower than 70 degrees), he wouldn't let that all be for nothing.

"Struggle till death, scream on your deathbed, die, and then struggle and scream some more." Endymion looked over but the man appeared to be asleep.

_My imagination?_

There came a point where Endymion could not keep his eyes open any longer, no matter how he tried to stare up at that beautiful crescent of white in the sky. He slept.

(^_^)


	3. Chapter 3

**Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros; I've got a bunch written but those OC's need to appear some time soon. I'll try not to let this story die. **

**The fallen flames; I saw a bunch of Fairy Tail and Harry Potter x-overs but they were all terrible so I made my own. No, seriously. They're all "what would happen if the members of fairy tail went to hogwarts?" It's ridiculous, there's no actual story there in the slightest. I just like Gray as a tragic hero, his stripping makes for some sort of humor and the Malfoy's have SO much to work with thanks to blood prejudice and how ashamed they would be of a squib and all that jazz. It's a formula I hope will produce more chapters. **

**But I need those OC's. People in the Sahara, the USA, China, or Australia. Or all of them. And India, too. **

**So, yeah. Here's the next chapter, there might be some format errors but hopefully it's all good. Let me know if you see anything that comes off as confusing or grammatically incorrect or anything of the sort. **

* * *

_Where…am I?_

His back was colder than he remembered the log of wood being, but that wasn't what tipped him off that something had changed. As he stared up at what should have been the morning sky he only found ice. Ice, ice, and more ice.

It was only five inches from his face.

Tentatively, he tried to lift a hand to push against it, but found his arm unmoving. IT was numb. He tried to lift his head, but his neck would not abide. His breath came in sudden pants, and he came to the realization he was running out of air.

_What the hell's going on?_

Eyes darted around, but they only found ice. He could manage to move his jaw, but it was incredibly languid and had to be worked for a moment before he could try and move his tongue, which was frozen solid against his left cheek.

_WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!_

_Crack, crack, crack._ The ice in front of his eyes started to break apart, and soon enough it broke. A fist sized hole was made, and he found himself staring up at the same sky as before- but the moon was totally gone now. The ice continued cracking, breaking apart, and before he knew it he was pulled out of the ice by strong arms and laid down on a familiar half-trunk.

"Your core has reached its first origin. I sped up its development by forcing your body to a sub-zero temperature. It was gamble, but you're alive, if totally frostbitten." Any thoughts Endymion tried to form were inconclusive; everything heard was a bit garbled and the only thing he was sure of was that he could feel his toes. Soon enough feeling moved up to his shins, then his thighs, his hips, his core, and then up to his neck.

Along the way he'd grasped that the feeling was being conjured by Gray's fingers massaging him, but he tried not to think about that.

It didn't take more than a half hour for all feeling to return, and Endymion worked his jaw for a minute as he stared up at Gray, who looked worse for wear; dark rings were under his eyes and his skin was an even more pallid shade than it was usually.

"I'll have to teach you to manipulate body temperature…we'll start tomorrow. Today you'll rest, after you eat." Endymion was tugged to his feet, and lost his footing on the ice, held up only by Gray's strong arm. "You'll be weak for a few hours, but it'll pass." The boy nodded dumbly, saving his questions for later, when he'd be able to move his tongue properly.

When they arrived at the mansion Narcissa was frantic. She had her wand out and pointed at Gray, demanding he run or face her motherly fury. He promptly ignored her and walked right past her, only pausing momentarily to nod at Lucius, who looked just as livid but not bat-shit crazy. From there they moved into the kitchen, where Gray sat Endymion down and told him to rub his core to conjure more heat. The boy could barely move his arms, but he managed, trying to get past the weird afterglow from being numb.

"There's a reason I put you through that." Gray sat across from Endymion, who was stuffing his face as fast as his almost immobile limbs could manage. Cold chicken soup. It was like boiling water being poured down his throat, and he was enthralled in it. Nevertheless, he tried to listen to what Gray said. "We're leaving."

"Bleh?" The spoon in Endymion's thawed fingers slipped and _splunked_ into the soup. His tongue was sticking out, preventing him from speaking properly. This sudden shift of expectations was not easy to cope with. Already he'd filled his mind with fantasies of his brother coming home from Hogwarts for the Christmas break and showing him all the things he'd learned. Apparently it was not to be.

"He'll be coming on a little expedition with me. It'll last a few years."

"An 'expedition?'" Lucius repeated, blinking dumbly. "Where-and why? And why with Endymion? I thought you-"

"Talked to Dumbledore to bend the rules into letting him attend early and without having full magic-no, you _assumed_ I did. I didn't. I was helping him with…_security_ measures at the school. No, Endymion will never attend Hogwarts."

"Why didn't you tell me about this? When was I supposed to be informed?"

"I didn't expect to need to. By my expectations, your son should be dead." Gray shrugged. "The brat is advancing quickly, even if I'm the one forcing him to do so. It will not be long before he reaches the maximum I can teach him without..." The tutor had a far-off look in his eyes for a moment before he focused on Lucius once more.

Silence.

"I will take him with me in the morning. The cold air of Britain will be excellent training grounds for teaching him body temperature manipulation. If it makes you feel any better, think of it as a _field trip._"

(^_^)

_A year and several months later…_

Hands down, learning to manipulate body temperature to go from subzero up to thirty-some-odd degrees was one of the most difficult things Endymion had ever done. He was still a bit fuzzy past -40 and above 35 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was well within the margins Gray expected of him.

They were no longer in Britain. They'd spent a year doing almost nothing but walking and training, towards the north. Gray, with his seemingly limitless magical reserves, froze the ocean so they could walk to the northernmost region of Scandinavia. Only recently did they use transport; a boat, to take them the rest of the way towards the land of northern ice.

They were in the arctic. Gray wore absolutely nothing, and Endymion was not far behind him; a pair of pants and a thin t-shirt. They provided no warmth, only a slight bit of protection from the billowing ice storm that seemed to follow them wherever they went. Polar bears were frequent company but not for long; Gray would either slay them with an ice spear and eat it raw and force Endymion to do the same, or would intimidate them with a stare colder than their surroundings, scaring them off. It was utter contrast to the 'cook' the boy had gotten to know.

"If it's edible, you eat it. Here there's neither wood nor need for a fire; polar bear meat is sterile enough simply because of where we are. But don't eat the liver."

"Why not?"

"It contains enough potassium for a bear. Lethal amounts. It'll kill you."

Their exact destination Gray had withheld for a few days into the trek, but had eventually been spoken in the midst of igloo construction for protection while sleeping.

"We're going to see an old…acquaintance of mine."

"Why couldn't he just come to England instead of us-"

"He's unable to."

The reasoning behind whatever prevented their contact from coming to them instead of vice versa was never clarified. When they passed the literal pole that signified 'North' Gray stopped walking and turned to Endymion, commanding attention.

"He's close. This is important, so pay attention. You _do not_ say a word. I do all the talking, and you stand behind me until _I_ say you come forward, _if_ I say so. Do not say anything in mind to his appearance. Do not gape at him. Keep your trap shut and your eyes narrowed against the storm that's sure to spout off of him, be it literal or figurative. I'm not sure."

Endymion, being eleven and a half years old and not in total control of his actions, broke all of these commands the moment he spotted the being. Thirteen feet tall with fur sticking out of its scales and skin at odd locations. There was no definite species to the thing. It was like a cross between a leopard, a snake, an armadillo, and any other number of beasts. It was turned away from them, tearing into a dead polar bear with gusto. Several tails of different types swirled in the air from its tailbone. One of them was, all by itself, solid _stone._

The boy's mouth fell open, his eyes went wide, he took agonizing steps forward, and muttered a 'whoa' under his breath.

He would have reached out to touch the creature, had he gotten close enough to do so, if Gray hadn't literally thrown him backwards. The sound of the kick and impact roused the creature from it's feeding, and it glanced over its shoulder at them.

Its jaws were malformed and hanging oddly, with at least seventy different types of teeth sticking out the sides of its cheek-less face. The eyes were multicolored, red and blue and all kinds of greens, and there were seven of them randomly spotting its face. A nose not unlike a rat's stuck out at an obtuse angle, and its ears were pointed like daggers.

In greeting, it roared. Ripples of raw magic exploded out of it in a scalar fashion, bright yellow and powerful.

Gray roared back, figuratively, with an equally powerful blast of Ice Magic. It was much lower than the -40 temperature around them, and silenced the creature swiftly. Calculations simmered in that monstrous gaze as it flitted between the man before him and the boy about twenty feet back on his rump. With a thump, the creature lowered itself to sit. It's tails flicked and it growled.

**"Guh-ray."**

"It's nice to see you've maintained sentience over the years, Elfman. Or at least a semblance of it." The creature was not amused, slamming its tails into the ground impatiently.

**"Point."** Every word was garbled. Its vocal chords sang in three octaves at once, and with the whipping wind allocating whatever snarls came out of its throat, it was very difficult to understand.

"The Fairy Seal. You still have it, yes?" If it was possible for a monster to look abashed, it was currently happening.

**"Lost."**

"You _lost_ it?"

A primal roar echoed on the frozen landscape, and Gray stood stolid with his arms crossed over his chest, bracing the storm even as Elfman's jaws were inches from his face.

**"Cana gave, Elf lost. Bottom." **A heavy paw/hand/tentacle slammed against the ice. **"Under."**

Gray's eyes narrowed.

"The "True Fairy" entrusted you with the seal, Elfman. Now it's at the bottom of the ocean?" Elfman snorted, crossing his own bulky appendages.

**"Why need?"**

Gray jerked his head towards the boy behind him. The vicious jaws curled in a menacing fashion.

**"Fairy?"**

"Makarov would have said so. I intend to break in his second origin eventually, and I'll need both a Mark on his skin and Ultear to do that. I know where to find the latter, but I need the _seal_ to do the first." Elfman shrugged, pointedly glaring towards Endymion.

**"Apu-rhen-tuce?"**

"How many centuries have passed since I had the last one?" Gray muttered under his breath, quiet enough that neither heard him. "Doesn't matter. He's what modern day wizards call a 'squib.' Can't do any magic but the old stuff. No wand-work." The large monster raised a hand and flicked a finger towards Endymion, who was currently watching with curious intent. Gray looked over his shoulder to find Endymion seeking approval, and nodded.

Endymion could say only one thing; Elfman's breath was terrible from twenty feet away, but it was downright horrifying from up close. Jowls of saliva and unkempt spiky and flat teeth were only inches from his throat as the large monster glared into his eyes. If a monster could sigh, Elfman did just that.

**"See what do." **Gray nodded and watched as Elfman stomped into the wastes away from them.

"W-who was that?" The question caused the man to frown.

"Not who, but _what._ Elfman is…" Gray bit his lip. "Imagine every beastly monster in the world, magical or no. He is _that._ The personification of the beast." He glared down at Endymion. "He's one of the few of my…acquaintances who are still alive. Coincidently, one who taught me how to cook."

Beat.

"Where's he going?"

"To fetch an item for me. He was entrusted with it by another acquaintance who has since…moved on to other things."

"Oh."

"You're probably wondering how I come to know such monstrous beings such as Elfman."

"W-well, yeah, but also…why is he called 'Elfman?'" The man snorted.

"That is a question for the truly dead to decipher."

A roar came from the distance, and Gray frowned, taking off towards where the sound originated. Endymion followed, his brain rattled by the turn of events but utterly _thirsting_ for more excitement.

(^_^)

"It wasn't at the bottom of the ocean at all, was it?" Gray muttered, swiping the odd object out of the beasts' hand.

**"Too much tu-rubble." **

Endymion was confused, and that was putting it lightly. The large beast had just killed another large beast.

A dragon.

A fucking huge, ice covered and frost breathing dragon.

The difference in size between Elfman and the Dragon was immense, so how the _hell_ did the beast manage to kill it? His gaze floated between the Dragon's corpse, which made a near hill behind Elfman, and Elfman himself. It eventually settled on Elfman's bloody hands.

It really didn't matter how he'd killed the monster, but he'd done it somehow, and that was enough.

"So…let me get this straight." Gray summarized, tossing the object between his hands. "You found a baby dragon, shoved the seal down its throat, then left it alone to wander the wastes until you needed the seal again?"

**"Butter dan lozing it." **Endymion resisted pointing out that dragons took over a century to grow up; thus, Elfman was over a century old. What did that say about his tutor, then? He took a moment to just stare at Gray Fullbuster and wonder.

"Better than losing it indeed. It smells like snot."

Elfman shrugged, and then took thundering steps towards Endymion, only to find Gray blocking his path.

**"Not kill."**

"Promise?" Elfman thumped a massive claw to his chest.

**"Man."** To Endymion's surprise, Gray burst out laughing and stepped out of the way. Now the boy was at the mercy of an unknown monster capable of killing an ice dragon with its bare hands. Sufficed to say, when the boy was lifted off his feet and then slammed into the ice beneath him, he was just as comfortable as a broken ice cube.

"Oi, you promised!"

**"Not dead."**

Gray's vision moved from the beast to the boy currently writhing on the ground with odd yellow light emanating off of him. Realization sprouted and he summoned an icy hammer to whack Elfman up the side of the head with.

"Idiot! He doesn't need Take-Over magic!" The blow did almost nothing to the monster, but Elfman rubbed his face in irritation nonetheless.

**"Is cree-ters."**

The guttural speak was translated easily enough for someone who'd spoken it for as long as Gray had.

Endymion was hoisted to his feet and felt Gray slap his back.

"We're leaving." No words of thanks, no goodbyes, just gone. Elfman watched them go with mild discontent.

He was always discontent, though. Who would like to be cursed with the existence of a monster in the arctic for all eternity?

(^_^)

"Elfman gave you a present. One that isn't needed, nor would I have liked him to give you, but you received it nonetheless."

They hadn't talked the entire time they'd traversed the wastes back to the port they'd come there in the first place. Endymion was actually surprised Gray had said anything at all before returning to the manor. Currently, they were in a back alley where they'd left their clothes; a thick jacket for Endymion and a thin suit and overcoat for Gray. They had to appear somewhat normal, considering that this land was frigid as zero degrees when it was hot.

That isn't to say they looked normal with a jacket and overcoat. It was enough to avoid more than an odd look, however, and that was enough.

Gray continued speaking as he pulled his cuffs together.

"Your frost familiars, when you manage to manifest them, will be…different. Almost like those damn 'patronus' things wizards have these days. I can do the same thing with my level of skill, but to a lesser extent." To demonstrate, he flicked his wrist and a wolf made of solid ice sprouted out of the ground. "This is only ice." A sudden shift in Gray's demeanor caused the wolf to gain glowing red eyes. "This is a familiar." It faded away as he continued explanation. "Your familiars will have actual personality, not just the capability of making its own decisions and defending you. Perhaps, perhaps, they'll have a voice."

The boat ride back to England was uneventful. Endymion, in the bottom of the boat, continued training with Gray. Months passed. At this point in time he could manage a solid spear of ice or a hammer, but it was not of the same density nor potent effect as his master could manage. His familiars were nonexistent. He could freeze almost anything he touched without too much difficulty. With all of these skills, he was well on his way to being a fine Ice wizard.

Whenever the boy had his shirt off he would stare curiously at the mark Gray had put on him. It was an ineffable symbol-coincidentally, the exact same symbol on Gray's chest-to the left of his belly button, where the man had unceremoniously slapped the seal against in a nonchalant manner without Endymion's permission. Dark purple and impossible to remove. Along with that glance he would sometimes marvel at his developing physique; an almost thirteen year old he may be, he would soon maintain an excellent musculature.

His previous two birthdays passed without so much as a 'Happy Birthday' while they were in the arctic. They'd spent little more than two years in that frosty land and it was high time they return home. Real food was only a fantasy until they'd gotten on the boat. His brother was now thirteen and something, in his third year at Hogwarts. What adventures he'd had, all that-Endymion wanted to hear it.

Unfortunately, according to Gray, they would not be going 'home' any time soon. They had just docked in Norway and had already started walking through Portown.

"India." He said, making Endymion's brain spin. They'd just spent nearly two years in one of the coldest places on earth...and now they'd go to one of the hottest (depending on the region, of course).

"Why there?"

"Another old acquaintance. I will take you to Ultear after this."

Ultear. Whoever this 'Ultear' was they were an enigma. Gray always said the name with disinterest bordering on disgust, for reasons he didn't seem willing to explain. Endymion sighed, shrugging off his outercoat and tucking it under his arm. Half a minute later he realized what he'd done, and tried not to groan.

Gray's lovely stripping habit seemed to be rubbing off on him. He wasn't at the point where he'd remove everything but his underwear yet, but he feared the day when he'd be stark naked in the streets with no idea how it'd happened. Gray was disturbingly stoic when that happened, and Endymion wasn't sure if he could be so confident.

They meandered through the town bringing a cold draft with them. Most people shifted away from Gray instinctually; his gloomy stare and icy appearance (literally) made civilians weary of him. His stubble was covered in a thin frost. He'd shaved with an icicle. Endymion looked a bit out of place next to him, blond hair and silver eyes. Almost like day and night taking a stroll.

"We'll stay here for the night." Gray said, unceremoniously. He jerked his thumb towards a shoddy excuse for an inn and Endymion dutifully followed him in.

(^_^)

* * *

**Please review and give me those OC's!**

**addendum****; here's the security measure Gray instigated at the school.**

* * *

Harry, Hermione and Ron all blinked at the large wall of ice. They'd just opened the door with their Charms Professor's key and now they saw only this.

This big...impenetrable...unfathomable...immense wall of ice. It filled the entire corridor and was not in any way fragile-Harry had flung a marginally powerful_ Diffindo_ at it to no effect.

"So," Ron began, turning around to face Hermione. "You're smart. Know any melting spells?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Whew, this took some time. Special thanks to Fallen heavens for their OC, Akili.**

(^_^)

What was supposed to be a night became a week. The innkeeper, Mr. Barley, offered them some work fixing the roof and the walls and pretty much everything else. While Endymion did the work, Gray roved around Portown and gathered information. Or at least that was what he said he was doing. Endymion had his doubts.

"Oh, Mr. Charlemagne, how naughty!" The boy of nearing thirteen perked his head up from behind the counter, where he'd been adjusting the piping underneath. Gray, in all of his pantless glory, had a girl attached to his hip and doing things to her that shouldn't be done in public. It was nearing midnight, though, so it wasn't like anyone under reasonable age was still awake in the inn. The lower level was a pub of sorts, though there were only six people present counting Endymion, the bartender, Mr. Barley, and Gray and his girl.

Endymion's eyes floated over to the sixth person. He'd shown up twenty minutes ago and ordered nothing. Tall, dark skinned and with frightfully red eyes, sitting in one of the booths. There piercings all over him, and if an expression could be made of steel, his was harder than that.

"Always a fan of the redheads, huh, Gray?" He said, not even looking over at Endymion's tutor. In a flash the woman was gone, and Gray held a sickle of ice in his hand at a menacing angle. The bartender and Mr. Barley had also mysteriously vacated the premises.

"Gajeel. Did the Librarian-"

"No. She didn't send me here." The stranger, "Gajeel," stood up and turned to face Gray, shrugging his shoulders. Endymion gulped when he felt the magic power start to leak out of the stranger. Gray only tapped his fingers on his sickle, looking peeved.

"Is it him?"

"Yes." Apparently this wasn't the answer Gray wanted. He threw his sickle at the floor, and then kicked it to the wall.

"Horse shit! Again?!"

"There's no one else who-"

"Why not Ultear?" That name, again, Endymion noticed. "She's powerful enough of an Ice mage, isn't she?"

"No, not enough. The only time she reached anything near your mastery was during the Unison Raid with Lockser."

"Then get the clingy rain-lady as well!" The mystery man rolled his eyes.

"You think I'm willing to go to The Bermuda Triangle and get Juvia? Nuh-uh, not after the crazy stuff she's been pulling on the regulars for the last-"

"Forget it." Gray cut him off, glancing over at Endymion. Gajeel followed his gaze.

"An apprentice?" He mused, walking over only to be blocked by a massive wolf made of ice.

"Mine." Gray growled. Endymion blinked at the possessiveness, and then chalked it up to his tutor being eccentric, as always. Gajeel stared the wolf in the eyes, then looked to Gray.

"You'll help him?"

"Only if you get your Librarian to fix him."

"It's on my to-do list."

"Put it at number one." The wolf disappeared, and the stranger did as well. Gray sighed and walked over to the bar, motioning for Endymion to get him a drink. Endymion did so, blinking when he found a frozen solid Mr. Barley, bartender, and hooker behind the bar. He knew Gray had something to do with it but decided to just step over them and get the drinks.

"Who was that?" Endymion asked, after Gray's third shot. His tutor answered with a glare of glacial proportions; _don't ask twice._

"Just an idiot from times past."

(^_^)

"So…instead of going to India, we're going to Africa."

"That is what I just said, yes."

They were moving much quicker now. They'd taken buses down the central route of Europe, and were now nearing the Mediterranean Sea. They'd catch a plane to Cairo, Egypt, and go from there. Where, Endymion didn't know, but he just hoped it'd be better than the Artic.

It was, up until they left the air-conditioned airport. The thirteen year old was sure if he didn't have the ability to manipulate his body temperature that he'd pass out from the heat. They'd walked for several miles through the city with seemingly no direction, up until they happened upon a less than friendly neighborhood with broken windows and barred doors.

Three knocks, with a long pause between the second and third, on a door redder than blood. The floorboards audibly creaked as someone approached the door, and it swung open to reveal a young woman of native descent, with beads woven into her cornrowed hair. It would appear she was dressed for the heat; she lacked pants and wore a sweat soaked tank top that left nothing to the imagination.

"Oh, Gray." She said, looking him up and down for a moment with critical golden eyes. Endymion shuffled nervously. First there had been a massive monster of multiple beasts, then that red-eyed man up north. Who was this?

"Akili Jabral." She introduced, after they'd started walking, and after she'd put on a pair of shorts and cheap sneakers. The apprentice wizard felt odd, with his tutor on his left and this mystery woman on his right. "I met your tutor some time ago." Endymion waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't.

"You still know the dune patterns, Shrew?" The nickname made the woman snort in a most unfeminine fashion, and she pointed to her temple.

"It's all up here."

"Dune patterns?" The boy mused, outloud. Gray glanced down at him.

"The desert shifts over time; the wind displaces the sand. Some people use compasses to navigate the desert, but there are some like Akili who innately know how to get…places."

"It's not hard to guess where you're going." There was a conversation on top of this one, one that Endymion could only get a glimpse of.

"Yeah. The sandstorm about four hundred miles west of Wadi Halfa."

"It's that guy, right? The one you talked about all the time, the one with-"

"Motion sickness. Yeah." Gray hailed a cab and they rode in silence till they got out just outside of the city barriers, where some caravans were already selling commodities without having to pay toll to enter the city. There were several with spare camels. Gray purchased one and several sacks of supplies for it to carry. Before long they were traversing the sands, going south while constantly veering away from the enticing Nile River.

Days passed without break.

"Ugh. I've got sand in places I didn't know existed." Endymion muttered, shaking his legs this way and that. Gray had once again gone in the nude and now had a terrible sunburn covering his entire body. Entire body. That means everywhere. It seemed as though he just didn't care, though. He just had this irritated expression, which probably came from the camel spitting on him every chance it got. This was a great source of humor for Akili and Endymion, but they would quickly stop laughing when Gray lowered the temperature a few degrees.

"Why don't you just keep doing that?" Akili had asked, tugging on the neckline of a purple hoodie she'd acquired to fend off the sun's rays. Beads of sweat dripped from her chin with every step, same as Endymion, who had adopted a more locale fashion sense; a swath of cloth around his body and a turban on his head. "I don't mind the heat, but when there's such a comfortable alternative…"

"The boy needs to endure." Was all Gray said in reply. Endure. Endymion was pushing the reserves of his magical core just to keep from burning alive. It seemed the further they went into the desert, the hotter it got. It was now well past midnight, but the temperature was still escalating as though the sun was getting higher in the sky during daytime. Probably nearing 120 degrees.

"This is what happens when he overloads?" Akili asked, in reference to the rising temperature, several days later after they had lounged at an oasis for a few scant hours. Endymion had spent the time swimming to cool off, something Akili had joined in as well. Nude. The boy could honestly tell his brother he'd seen it all.

Gray shrugged, glancing up at the half-waxed moon. It would be full in a few weeks.

"He's too powerful his own good. Ultear offered him the Third Origin and he couldn't resist."

"Third?" Akili repeated, disbelievingly. Endymion looked between them, trying to decipher what they were talking about. He knew he would see Ultear to reach his 'Second Origin,' whatever that meant, so what was the third?

"It'd be better to ask her yourself. I don't know the specifics."

It was a full week later when the wind started to pick up. The temperature had now reached such ridiculous heights as 135, and Gray no longer had any reservations about using his powers to lower it to a slightly more reasonable 110. He'd also put on some clothes to protect him from the now stinging sand which was flung up at them with the force of the wind. It only got stronger with every passing minute.

Around this time they left the camel behind. It was too dangerous for it to come along any longer.

Soon, Endymion was having trouble moving forward, much less seeing more than three feet in front of himself. Gray instructed him to make a shield of ice and soldier on, something he succeeded in, but not very admirably. Gray's shield was mighty and strong while his was flimsy and broke easily. It functioned, but barely enough. He had to keep feeding it magic power to keep it from melting. Akili followed behind Gray close enough that his shield protected the both of them.

It didn't take much longer for the temperature around them to escalate to boiling. The oasis' they passed were now bubbling like cauldrons, and it was only thanks to Gray lowering the temperature around them that they didn't all die of their blood scalding their insides.

Eventually the sand started to turn into glass. It was eerily similar to how they had trained in the forest, sliding forward on the shimmering surface. Except this glass was still simmering and hot enough to melt skin. Gray had given them ice boots , Endymion's own powers not enough to protect him. Akili, oddly enough, tossed the boots behind herself and stripped off her outermost garments, leaving only enough for decency. She'd been acting weird these past few days, almost feral-like in her behavior. Hell, Endymion had heard her growl earlier. She seemed perfectly fine taking the brunt of a fiery glass storm.

Then it clicked. Golden eyes; she was a werewolf.

It was one final agonizingly long day before they'd heard the screams. Gray grimaced at the first inhuman screech, and flared his magical power, forcibly lowering the temperature around them almost thirty degrees instantly. Pillars of ice shot out of the ground on both sides periodically for a more dramatic walk to the epicenter of the storm, where a massive ball of fire lay in a crater. That was where the screams came from.

Gray took the lead then, striding past Akili and sliding down the side of the crater towards the fire. He took a stance with arms held above his head and then swung them down at the ground, slamming them into the sand. There was ice everywhere at once, emanating from where Gray had placed his hands. Everything had just…frozen. Time hadn't stopped, no, but it might as well have. The glass that had been swirling all around them just stopped its motion and fell to the ground, covering them in a thin layer. The temperature had gone below freezing, though Gray somehow avoided turning Akili into a popsicle.

Even the flames of the fireball had been frozen solid.

It took several hours to properly put out the fire with raw magic, something that had Gray panting at the end of it, and reveal the mystery man from within. His clothes were nonexistent, and his hair was dirtied like it'd been rubbed with coal. His skin, though, was utterly…volcanic. There were cracks and fissure where veins would have been, where little bits of actual magma leaked out and slid down his tar black skin. It was almost as though whatever power he held within was literally tearing him apart from the inside. He was still groaning in pain, but with every wave of Gray's hands over his body he quieted a bit more.

With one final wave of Gray's hand the man opened his eyes, revealing pure white. They lacked pupils and glowed brightly, and he gasped for air.

"H-Hey, Ice-c-cube." he grunted.

"Natsu. What did I tell you the last time this happened?" Endymion took a step back as the stranger, "Natsu," stood up, lava still leaking out of his skin and dripping onto the sand. He swayed, then steadied, and sighed. A simple exhaling of air let out a plume of smoke and a gout of flames that hit the ground only three feet from where the apprentice stood.

"Not to use magic again."

"That's right." Gray stood up as well. His cheeks were looking rather hollow; cooling Natsu down had taken a lot more out of him than he'd have liked. His tone, though, was as condescending as ever. "Why did I tell you that?"

"Because with my Third Origin released I can't control it." Sparks spurted from between Natsu's lips with every syllable. There was dejection easily detectable in his voice. He turned a bit to the side, just enough that Endymion caught sight of a particular shape on his shoulder. It was leaking lava, and he could have been wrong…but it looked just like the symbol on Gray's chest. On his own stomach. "I don't get it, Gray. How does Elfman do this whole self-exile shtick? I still haven't gotten used to it, and it's been damn near-"

"Elfman was never really meant for society, anyways." Gray interrupted, giving a fleeting look towards Endymion. "I talked to Redfoxx." Pure white eyes widened. Akili seemed to recognize the name as well, from the way she took a step back.

"And?"

"He said the Librarian would come up with something."

"She did." A new voice intoned, from behind them. Endymion turned to find the same man as before, the one with all the piercings, standing there. Same suit, same everything. The boy held a stinking suspicion the man hadn't actually changed clothes since they'd seen him. There was one difference, though; he held a large chain in one hand, and was slowly accelerating the speed at which he swung it.

"Iron." Natsu greeted, tipping his neck to the side with a loud _crack._ "If there wasn't magma clogging my nose I would have smelled you by now."

Before anyone could say anything there was a loud impact in the place their fists met; Natsu's smoldering against Gajeel's chain wrapped fist.

"I am not cooling you down again, Natsu. I don't have the energy." Gray said, monotone, voice somehow carrying though he was relatively far from the confrontation.

"But the Dragon's Edict-"

"Does not apply in a situation where one drake is magically inhibited." Gajeel growled through gritted teeth. Natsu hopped back, landing with a _thump._ "Iron" stood up straight and adjusted his tie. Endymion noticed the chain had disappeared, but it had now been replaced by a sheet of paper. It looked the standard 8 ½ by 11, and nothing special, up until Gajeel started reading off of it, with his hand pointed towards Natsu.

**"Extinguetur ignis," **He began. Red runes shot out of the sand and enwrapped Natsu's body with a hiss, and he fell over, screaming once more. **"Tonde te pennae, signa vestra virtutem tuam, abscondis magicis opus est done, silentio fumigantium in tertiam fornacem."**

The lava that leaked out of Natsu's skin dripped off completely, and the fissures it seeped from sealed up. His skin began to flake off, leaving behind a pallid shade of off-white that hadn't seen the sun for several hundred years. Both Gray and Gajeel quirked an eyebrow when his pink hair did not return as well; instead it stayed a sooty color, one not too dissimilar to a particular dark wizard's hair. His eyes turned to a relatively normal complexion, with brown iris'.

He looked, for all intents and purposes, normal. Gajeel shoved the paper in his pocket and walked over to Natsu, pulling out a small device as he did so. It was something like a metal detector, but looking for something different. He waved it over the top of Natsu's head a few times, then nodded.

"Your Third Origin is sealed off, but not completely. If you use too much fire at once the seal will break, and it'll be Pompeii all over again." Gajeel's eyes looked around and settled on Endymion, then on Akili. "The apprentice and...A werewolf."

"Redfox." She had the decency to look uncomfortable. "There've been rumors of what you've done."

"Nothing conclusive, I hope?" He asked, smirking. It quickly fell back to a scowl, and he focused on Gray. "The Librarian sends her regards. Her invitation still stands."

"I'll take it later." Gray's vision edged towards Endymion, who was watching the proceedings with interest.

"You said that how many years ago?" The man of many piercings followed Gray's gaze, then snorted. "He doesn't know."

"He doesn't need to."

"Inevitable, though." Gajeel said, pointing a finger.

"Only if I stay around him long enough. Akili, I'll assume you're staying here for the full moon?" It was a clear distracting method that everyone could see right through. Gray was hiding something. No, not just Gray; it seemed everyone was in on the secret except for Endymion. Akili seemed to know a bit of it, but not all.

"I always spend my hunt out here." The native waved her hand towards the sands. "Camel meat tastes wonderful. Tangy."

"Indeed." Gray said, as though he knew exactly what she was talking about. "In that case we'll be on our way. Natsu-"

"I'll stick with you till we get some clothes, then I'm out of here. I haven't seen civilization in…" The icy glare Gray was giving him made his mouth snap shut. Then it opened again. "Have you by any chance seen my scarf?"

"Ultear has it." That name, again.

"Huh. Well, Iron, I'll fight you later, then." Gajeel was already walking away, waving a hand in goodbye.

They walked off, leaving Akili behind for her full moon. Endymion asked only one question on their way back across the desert, knowing one was probably all Gray would bother answering.

"Pompeii?"

"It's nothing." The ice wizard said. Though, behind them, Natsu was rubbing the back of his head in shame for a particular loss of control in the year 79 A.D.

* * *

**I still need some OCs for the USA, China, India, and Australia. Several for England, too. Seriously, they'll be a big help. **

**Translation; Put out the fire, clip your wings, seal away your strength, hide your magic until it is needed, silently smoldering in the third furnace.**

**Latin is just awesome for ancient magic stuff. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Apologies, this isn't a story update. I'm at my grandparents and I accidentally left the document with Ttor on it back home. Rest assured, I'll put up a new chapter as soon as I can. **

In the meantime I need OCs. Seriously. China first, then USA, then Australia, and then India.

I want to put a spoiler, but I have so much awesome shit planned for each location that if I say a thing it'll ruin it.

Look forward to an update monday or tuesday.


End file.
